With the increased hustle and bustle in the modern world, there is a demand for reducing the labor involved in home laundering, as well as the cost and time involved in dry cleaning, commercial laundering and the like. This demand has placed pressure upon textile technologists to produce a product that will sufficiently reduce wrinkles in fabrics, especially clothing, and to produce a good appearance through simple, convenient use of the product.
Organosilicones have been used as one means of reducing wrinkles, softening fabrics and the like. Organosilicones have typically been employed in laundry and/or fabric care compositions in the form of aqueous macroemulsions. Recently, organosilicone microemulsions having average particles sizes in the range of about 0.1 microns or less have been disclosed. Without wishing to be bound by theory, it is believed that the use of such microemulsions may be advantageous over the use of conventional macroemulsions in at least one or more of the following non-limiting aspects: (1) microemulsions may have a higher phase stability in liquid fabric care compositions, particularly those with low viscosities, such that they will not migrate to the top of the compositions during storage; (2) microemulsions may require less energy to manufacture; (3) microemulsions may be translucent and/or transparent, such that when incorporated into a liquid formulation, the resulting product may have a clearer, more pleasing appearance; and (4) microemulsions may have little or no effect on the sudsing of detergents in the wash liquor.
Silicone emulsions are typically produced by the conventional process of emulsifying an organosilicone in water with emulsifiers. A typical silicone macroemulsion may be made from compositions comprising from about 30% to about 80% silicone, from about 5% to about 20% emulsifier, and the remainder being water. In comparison, a typical silicone microemulsion may be made from a composition comprising relatively less silicone, but relatively more emulsifier; silicone microemulsions are typically made from compositions comprising from about 10% to about 30% silicone, from about 10% to about 40% emulsifier, and the remainder being water. The use of a relatively high level of emulsifier in a microemulsion may increase the cost of the microemulsion. Moreover, the relatively low concentration of silicone in the microemulsion may require the use of a greater volume of microemulsion, which in turn may add to the associated costs of its transportation, storage and the like.
Thus in spite of the advances in the art, there remains a need for improved fabric care compositions comprising organosilicone microemulsions. In some instances, it may be desirable to provide a process wherein silicone fluids are incorporated directly into liquid laundry compositions such that microemulsions are formed in situ in the liquid laundry composition. Such an improved process could circumvent the use of unnecessarily large amounts of surfactant in the production of microemulsions, as well as the associated costs of transportation, storage and the like.
In some instances, it may be desirable to improve the deposition of organosilicones onto fabrics during the aqueous laundering/cleaning process, for example by overcoming the conflict between the cleaning operation, which removes substances from fabric, and the fabric care operation, which may require deposition of care actives (such as organosilicones) onto the fabric.
In some instances, it may be desirable to provide a laundry detergent composition which combines laundry adjuncts and selected organosilicones in such a way as to simultaneously achieve superior fabric cleaning and fabric care. It may be desirable that such laundry detergents exhibit formulation stability and/or a clear or translucent appearance, all of which may contribute to an aesthetically pleasing product.